Atlantis

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

Siphon half shrugged.

"If I could control them I definitely would. It seems though they are triggered by specific instances. Aya kissing me, the anomaly, and now Nirrti being close to the jumper bays. Oh, and the panel thing when we needed an escape route. It's like they are unspooling at the most appropriate times, which to be honest, is a little freaky even to me. I just ... whoa, what the hell is that?"


He trailed off as a blip appeared on the sensors, an unknown energy reading popping up from nowhere. Suddenly, he let loose a strangled noise, and Sho would be close enough to see first one, then two more life form readings pop up. Suddenly, just like that, three new life forms had appeared near both their companions, and Nirrti. The city sensors set off a small warning on his panel, with the words "Drebraka, Pruvashu Pradokvah" flashing across.

Ramrod stiff as he was, Siphon was probably worrying her enough as it was, but when those words popped up on the screen, he turned a deathly shade of white, and let loose an "oh ... fuck."

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

Ariana stood still as the creature approached, her stance making sure that she was ready to move when it did go for a pounce. She thought it odd that it didn‘t seem to have eyes, figuring it must track on echolocation, or another similar concept.

There was the familiar flash in her mind what the creature did make it‘s move, Ariana jumping to the side, her trailing hand lifting her blade to occupy the space she was in a moment earlier, shimmering blue ready to neatly slice through flesh.

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

"Well, like I said, let's just hope one of those instances is when you need to watch your ass."

As he remarks about the energy signatures, she'll move over to take a look at things with him. "Okay, I don't know enough Ancient, but that can't be good." She'll elbow him lightly in the shoulder, mostly to snap his attention back to the here and now. "What do we do about it?"

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

The creature seemed to toy with her for a long moment, and then suddenly the attack came, but not from it.

Two of them came flying off the ceiling, aiming to cut her to pieces. They might have managed it with the numbers, if their Tokra friend hadn't managed a shot off with his zat which caused one to hit the ground. The second one she avoided, lashing out with her counter, only to have it dance back out of reach faster than she could react. Now it strafed side to side, Alveran blasters missing it as it effortlessly dodged them.


The one the Tokra had hit rose, lunging for him, Vorhan barely managing to avoid being ripped in half, though he did let loose a grunt of pain as one of the claws sank into his arm, ripping it open ....



Siphon was silent for a long moment before replying.

"We pray that this database and the Ancients were wrong. Those words translated ... they mean 'Danger: Future Predators.' If it is right though ... then I think the energy reading we are seeing is another anomaly, one that connects to the future."

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

The expected warning flash came to Ariana, but much stronger than she expected, the attack coming from the added two on the ceiling. She dropped as she fell sideways, catching herself on a hand and rolling lightly back to her feet. One had already been shot down, and the other newcomer was focused on her, the original threat having leaped at Vorhan again.

Screwing her face up in concentration, she pulled the same trick she had against the wraith, reaching out mentally and lifting the beast in front of her off the ground, denying it leverage to move with. "Shoot it, quick! Then I'll get teh last one!" She called out, strain evident in her voice.

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

"Charming," the brunette mutters under her breath. "All right, so do we stay or do we go?" She snapped her fingers. "You said the jumpers could dial the gate, right? So that means they have to be able to get to the gate room. Where's the door?" She points to the ceiling. "I can get to her. Just open it up enough for me to get through. Is that possible?"

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

Jacobs wasted no time when he saw the beast freeze for a moment, putting two blasts into it quickly. Shockingly enough though, the beast still was alive, requiring several more blasts to finally down.



Siphon slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I can open it from here, only problem is you'd have to face her by yourself, assuming I stay here as a last resort to lock her out. Not to mention those things that just popped up are nearby too. Still ... we need to stop her. If we can quickly, I may be able to put the shield over the anomaly and prevent anything from coming through, but I can't put it in two places at once. Guess the Ancients didn't consider multiple shielding processes."

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

"Figure that's the last thing she'll expect. Not that, y'know, opening a hole in the ceiling...floor...is going to give me the element of surprise, but still. I just hope Aya hasn't recovered enough to set me on fire. That would really, really suck." She paused, taking a deep breath. "I'll do my best not to hurt her, Siphon, but we need her unconscious or otherwise disabled. And we can't leave her alone with those...things, either. If nothing else, I'll be a pretty good distraction for the others, hey?" Resting a hand on his shoulder, she gave it a squeeze and then headed down the stairs to stand beneath where it looked like the ceiling might spiral out to allow the shuttles to come down. "Ready when you are, chief."

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

Ariana dropped the creature as soon as they were sure it was dead, repeating the process for the last of the three, looking around when it was all over, then down at her tracker, checking to see if the woman had moved. "Everyone alright?" She asked the group, starting to pick her way towards where Niirti/Aya had last been seen.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

Siphon nodded.

"Do what you need to, Nirrti has to be stopped. If she manages to escape, god only knows what she can come up with. One way or another, this ends here. As soon as you have her, let me know and I will collapse the shield around the anomaly."


With that, the roofing opened, leaving Sho to do what she needed.



Everyone nodded, though Jacobs seemed a bit occupied with a scanner on one of the dead creatures.

"Interesting ... according to this reading, this creature has wraith DNA. It also has bat DNA from earth, and several other strands of DNA that I've never seen before."

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

“It‘s genetically modified then, a created creature, and likely some sort of weapon.“ Ariana answered, glancing over at Jacobs when he spoke. “They came from Nirrti‘s direction, we need to move. The corpses should stay there long enough to do a proper exam later, eh?“ She offered with a smirk, taking the lead herself again, wanting to press forward before time gives them another hurdle to overcome.

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

Granted, she didn't have a huge window of time here, but while the floor was opening, Sho's attention was fixed on the ceiling, or rather, what was beyond the ceiling. She needed to know if there was anything in the way of the portal (Doubtful. You didn't leave things sit where they could crash to the room below.) and how much room was, roughly, between the floor of the upper room and the ceiling (Given it was for shuttles, probably pretty good, but why take chances?)

While the mechanism was opening the ceiling, the wind in the room began to pick up, though only in the area around her. Concentrating it into a funnel, as soon as it was wide enough to allow her through, Sho launched herself into the air, zipping up through and allowing the momentum to carry her straight up, having only a few seconds to switch between manipulating the wind tunnel and catching up enough of the air in the room to allow her to stay airborne while she got the layout. Thankfully, Aya was still human enough that she needed light to see what in the hells she was doing, so at least she wasn't blundering around in the dark.

First order of business was to find the blonde. Second was to find the nasties that had blipped in. Third was to find where the nasties blipped from. If it was safe enough, she'd land on the top of one of the shuttles and get her bearings from there, otherwise, she'd keep herself aloft and make for a more difficult target for whatever surprises awaited above.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

Jacobs nodded, planting a small device on the wall before he moved.

"Marked the spot for later, that definitely bodes further analysis. Nirrti should be ... interesting ... she appears to have stopped about ... eight hundred meters past the corridor we last saw her in. It also appears Sho or Siphon is on the move as well, another lifeform just appeared and exited the hangar. If we move, we can catch up and meet with whichever before moving in on Nirrti."



As Sho began to get her bearings in the seemingly clear room, there was a small hiss that seemed to come from one of the walls. A moment later, Siphon's voice came through some hidden speaker set.

"Sho, hopefully you can hear me, no idea if this thing actually still works. If you can, the immediate vicinity seems to be clear. The only life readings I am detecting other than you and I in the city are Nirrti and the others. The others seem to be heading in your direction, you might be able to hook up with them. Nirrti appears to be stationary approximately ... two thousand meters down the corridor in a medium sized room that seems to be some kind of storage facility. Be careful, she might be plotting some kind of ambush. I don't think you can reply back to me so if you can hear me ... take the door farthest from your position now."

A quick look confirmed three entry points, two close by and a third completely across the room from her on the far wall.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

Ariana nodded, taking the lead again, her pistol back into the hand the blade had been in. “the woman moves fast then, we had better hurry.“ She said with a hint of a scowl, starting off down the hall.

When Ariana and her posse came across Sho, the woman would get a nod and a halfhearted smirk. “Fancy meeting you here. Any updates from your end?“

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

Not that it might do much good, but Sho will find something heavy and clang it against the shield in the floor to at least try and acknowledge that she heard Siphon. When the door hisses open, she launches herself back on top of one of the shuttles, dropping back down when she spots the other woman and the Alverans.

"I get around," she replies to that with a grin. "The fact that you guys are here tells me you took care of the other readings, aye?" She'll jerk her head in the direction of the farthest door. "Nirrti's on the run. She's already made it to a store room, that way. And she's been out of sight for longer than three seconds, which means she's had time to cook up an ambush or two. Be ready for just about anything."

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

Jacobs nodded, the others falling into line even as their Tokra companion frowned. Something was bothering him it seemed, almost to the point of discomfort.



Meanwhile in the control room, Siphon had the sudden feeling that he wasn't alone, yet the sensors showed no life readings near him. They did however suddenly show two life forms pop up in the vicinity of Nirrti, closing in on the Gou'ald. They were close enough to the others for him to warrant a warning, but as he reached for the controls, instinct caused him to duck down even as an energy blast flew over his head. At the same time, the lights in the control room had started flickering. He slapped his shield up, before preparing to face off with the as of yet, unseen enemy.



As the group began closing in on the still stationary Nirrti, suddenly the lights began to flicker, nearly going out before coming on, and then flickering wildly. From down the corridor, the sudden sounds of energy weapons fire could be heard.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

Ariana kept the lead, walking quickly but carefully towards their destination. She noticed Vorhans's odd behavior, but didn't say anything about it, preferring not to possible cause the man distress in front of the others.

The concern quickly became moot in any case, as the lights started to flicker. Ariana motioned everyone towards the wall just in case, right when they heard the sounds of weapons fire coming from further on. "Sounds like her trap sprung a little early, perhaps." She commented dryly, moving forwards to see what was happening.

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

Sho will catch the Tokra's eye and raise a brow in question, but like Ariana, she won't call him out on it unless he brings it up first. It's clear, though, that his behavior is not going unnoticed.

"And now the power's on the fritz. Lovely." Though chances are, the flux was possibly a result of whatever popped in ahead of them to confront Nirrti. She could only hope it was something mean and nasty and deserving of getting shot at, and that it tripped any of Nirrti's booby traps, and not something friendly that she was taking pot-shots at. With their luck, though, it was probably something that'd just as soon rip their faces off as say hello. With a sigh, she picked up her pace, determined to find out what the hells was going on ahead of them.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

It was Jacobs who spoke, a trace of alarm in his voice.

"Two life forms just appeared in the same room with Nirrti ... check that, life signs termi ... no there they are again. The hell?"


Vorhan, still acting strange, suddenly doubled over with a shocked look of pain on his face. After a moment, through clenched teeth, he muttered only one word.

"Re'tu."

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

Sho looks back at the sound of Jacob's voice. "Great. Something that gets up after you've killed it already. Charming. It's year three all over again.*" She does stop, though, as Vorhan buckles, twisting around and heading back to him. "Translation?" She's more asking the others than him, kneeling down to see if he's okay or if he needs to be moved away from whatever these new things are. Her best guess is either it's a race name or he's using one of his own terms for the critters. "C'mon. Let's get you out of proximity of the nasties."

(*SBS flashback )